Doctors, nurses and families use lots of special words about diabetes. Here they are, each explained in a few simple sentences. Follow a link to read more or to play a game about it.

Alarm

A beep or a buzz from a sensor or a pump when glucose is getting too low or too high. Some can also send the alert to a grown-up’s phone. When an alarm goes off, tell a grown-up and follow your plan. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Buddy Helper

Autoimmune

Autoimmune means that the immune system attacks a part of your own body by mistake. Type 1 diabetes is autoimmune: the immune system attacks the cells that make insulin. It is nobody’s fault, and you can’t catch it. 📘 Read: Type 1 diabetes 🎮 Play: Diabetes Basics Quiz

Automated insulin delivery (closed loop)

A pump and a sensor that work together. A smart program in the pump or on a phone uses the sensor’s numbers to change how much insulin the pump gives, all by itself. Kids and grown-ups still tell it about meals and follow the diabetes team’s plan. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Diabetes Tools Quiz

Balanced plate

A simple way to build a meal: half the plate vegetables, a quarter protein and a quarter carb foods, like rice, pasta or bread. Every food can fit in a plan: there are no good or bad foods. 📘 Read: Carbs: food that turns into glucose 🎮 Play: Balanced Plate

Beta cells

Tiny cells inside the pancreas that make insulin. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks them by mistake, so the pancreas stops making insulin. Doctors are still studying why this happens. 📘 Read: Type 1 diabetes 🎮 Play: Body & Glucose Quiz

Blood glucose (blood sugar)

How much glucose is in your blood right now. It goes up and down during the day, for example after meals or sport. Kids with diabetes check it with a meter or a sensor. 📘 Read: What is diabetes? 🎮 Play: Glucose Check

Blue circle

The symbol for diabetes all around the world. The circle stands for life and health, and blue for the sky that all countries share. On World Diabetes Day, many people wear blue to show their support. 🎮 Play: World Diabetes Day Quiz

Carb counting

Adding up the carbs in a meal or a snack, usually in grams. It helps kids with type 1 diabetes and their grown-ups choose the right amount of insulin, using the diabetes team’s plan. Food labels show the carbs. 📘 Read: Carbs: food that turns into glucose 🎮 Play: Carb Catcher

Carbohydrates (carbs)

The part of food that turns into glucose and gives you energy. Carbs are in bread, pasta, rice, fruit, milk and sweets. Carbs are not bad: everyone needs them. 📘 Read: Carbs: food that turns into glucose 🎮 Play: Food & Carbs Quiz

Care plan (school plan)

A plan written with your family and your diabetes team that tells the school what to do about glucose checks, insulin, snacks, sport and lows. Thanks to it, you can treat a low and eat in class when you need to. 📘 Read: School and friends 🎮 Play: My Diabetes Team

Cells

The tiny building blocks that make up your whole body: there are billions of them. Every cell needs energy, and glucose is its main fuel. Insulin opens the door so glucose can get in. 📘 Read: What does insulin do? 🎮 Play: Insulin Key

CGM (continuous glucose monitor)

A small sensor stuck on the arm or the tummy that checks glucose all day and all night. It sends the numbers to a phone or a reader and can beep when glucose gets too low or too high. Many kids just call it a sensor. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: CGM Detective

Diabetes

When the body has trouble using glucose, because it doesn’t make enough insulin or the insulin doesn’t work well. Glucose then stays in the blood instead of going into the cells. Diabetes is very common, it’s nobody’s fault, and you can’t catch it. 📘 Read: What is diabetes? 🎮 Play: Diabetes Basics Quiz

Diabetes kit

The bag a child with diabetes takes everywhere. It usually holds the meter, insulin, a fast-acting sugar, a snack, water and sometimes glucagon. Your diabetes team helps you decide what goes in it. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Pack Your Kit

Diabetes nurse (diabetes educator)

A nurse who knows lots about diabetes. Diabetes nurses teach you and your family how to check glucose, take insulin and use devices like pens, pumps and sensors. They can help your school too. 🎮 Play: My Diabetes Team

Diabetes team

The people who help you look after diabetes: usually a diabetes doctor, diabetes nurses, a dietitian and a psychologist, working with your family and your school. You and your family are at the centre of the team, and your plan is made with you. 📘 Read: Type 1 diabetes 🎮 Play: My Diabetes Team

Dietitian

The food expert on your diabetes team. A dietitian helps you and your family with meals, snacks and carbs, and finds ways to keep the foods you love in your plan. 📘 Read: Carbs: food that turns into glucose 🎮 Play: My Diabetes Team

DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis)

A serious problem that can happen when the body is missing insulin and too many ketones build up in the blood. Its signs include tummy pain, vomiting, fast breathing and feeling very tired: a grown-up must then get help from a doctor or a hospital straight away. Doctors know how to treat it, and following your plan helps prevent it. 📘 Read: Highs and lows

Endocrinologist (diabetes doctor)

A doctor who knows all about hormones, like insulin. Many children with diabetes see a paediatric endocrinologist, a hormone doctor for kids, at their check-ups. This doctor sees how you are growing and doing, and makes your plan with you and your family. 🎮 Play: My Diabetes Team

Fast-acting sugar

A sugar that gets into the blood quickly, like juice or glucose tablets. It is used to treat a low, and your diabetes team tells you which one and how much. It is for lows, not for highs. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: Hypo Hero

Fibre

A part of plant foods that the body can’t fully digest. It is in vegetables, fruit, beans and whole grains. Fibre helps your gut work well and makes glucose rise more gently after a meal. 📘 Read: Carbs: food that turns into glucose 🎮 Play: Food Race

Finger prick

A quick way to check glucose: a lancet makes a tiny prick on the side of a fingertip, and the meter reads a drop of blood. The side hurts less than the middle. Wash and dry your hands first, because sugar on your fingers can make the number wrong. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Glucose Check

g/L (grams per litre)

A unit for glucose that tells how many grams of glucose are in a litre of blood. In France and some other countries, grown-ups often talk about glucose in g/L. The numbers look smaller than in mg/dL, but it is the same glucose, written another way. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: Glucose Check

Glucagon

A hormone made by the pancreas that tells the liver to let out its stored glucose, so glucose goes up. Glucagon is also an emergency medicine for very serious lows, given by a grown-up as an injection or a nose spray. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Body & Glucose Quiz

Glucose

A kind of sugar that is the main fuel for your body. Your body makes it from the carbs you eat, and your blood carries it to every cell. 📘 Read: What is diabetes? 🎮 Play: Body & Glucose Quiz

Glucose meter

A small device that measures glucose in a tiny drop of blood from a fingertip, using a test strip. Even kids who wear a sensor use a meter sometimes, for example to double-check a reading. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Glucose Check

Glucose tablets

Chewable tablets made of glucose: a fast-acting sugar that is easy to carry. Kids keep them in their kit to treat a low, and their diabetes team says how many to take. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: Hypo Hero

Hormone

A chemical messenger that the body makes and sends through the blood to tell other parts of the body what to do. Insulin and glucagon are hormones made by the pancreas. 📘 Read: What does insulin do? 🎮 Play: Body & Glucose Quiz

Hyper (hyperglycaemia)

When there is too much glucose in the blood, above your target range. You may feel very thirsty, pee a lot, feel tired or have a tummy ache or a headache. Drink water, tell a grown-up and follow your diabetes plan. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: Highs & Lows Quiz

Hypo (hypoglycaemia)

When there is not enough glucose in the blood: below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). You may feel shaky, sweaty, dizzy, very hungry or grumpy. Take a fast-acting sugar, tell a grown-up and follow your plan. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: Hypo Hero

Immune system

The body’s defence system, which fights germs to keep you well. In type 1 diabetes, it makes a mistake and attacks the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. 📘 Read: Type 1 diabetes 🎮 Play: Diabetes Basics Quiz

In range

When your glucose is inside your target range: the green zone in Glucoville’s games. In range, high or low, a glucose number is information, not a grade. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: Glucose Check

Infusion set

The part that connects an insulin pump to the body: a tiny, soft tube that sits just under the skin. It is changed every few days, each time in a new spot. Some pumps are a patch with the tiny tube built in. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Spot the Spot

Injection site

A place on the body where insulin goes in, like the tummy, the thighs, the back of the upper arms or the bottom. Using a new spot each time lets the skin rest and keeps lumps away, so insulin works well. Your diabetes team shows you which places to use. 📘 Read: What does insulin do? 🎮 Play: Spot the Spot

Insulin

A hormone made by the pancreas that works like a key: it opens the cells so glucose can get in and give them energy. Kids with type 1 diabetes get insulin with a pen, a syringe or a pump, because it can’t be swallowed as a pill. 📘 Read: What does insulin do? 🎮 Play: Insulin Key

Insulin pen

A pen that gives insulin through a very thin needle. It looks like a big marker: you turn a dial to choose how much insulin, as your diabetes plan says. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Memory Match

Insulin pump

A small device that gives insulin day and night through a thin tube or a patch. It gives a little all the time and more for meals, as your diabetes plan says. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Diabetes Tools Quiz

Ketones

When the body can’t use glucose because there isn’t enough insulin, it burns fat for energy instead, and that makes ketones. Lots of ketones can make you feel sick. Your grown-ups check ketones with a blood or pee test when your plan says so. 📘 Read: Highs and lows

Lancet

A tiny, very thin needle inside a lancet device. With one click, it makes a quick prick on the side of a fingertip to get a drop of blood for the meter. Use your own lancet device and never share it. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Glucose Check

Medical ID

A bracelet or a card that says you have diabetes. In an emergency, it tells helpers what they need to know, even if you can’t explain. Wear it at school, at sport and on holiday too. 🎮 Play: Diabetes Tools Quiz

mg/dL (milligrams per decilitre)

A unit for glucose that tells how many milligrams of glucose are in a decilitre of blood (a tenth of a litre). It is used in the United States and many other countries, but different countries use different units. In Glucoville’s games, you can pick the unit your meter shows. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: Glucose Check

mmol/L (millimoles per litre)

A unit for glucose that counts the tiny glucose particles in a litre of blood. It is used in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and many other countries. The numbers are smaller than in mg/dL, but they measure the same glucose. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: Range Runner

Pancreas

An organ behind your stomach. It makes insulin and glucagon, the hormones that control glucose, and juices that help digest food. In type 1 diabetes, it stops making insulin. 📘 Read: What is diabetes? 🎮 Play: Body & Glucose Quiz

Protein

A part of food that helps your muscles grow. Chicken, fish, eggs and cheese have lots of protein and very few carbs. On a balanced plate, protein takes a quarter. 📘 Read: Carbs: food that turns into glucose 🎮 Play: Balanced Plate

School nurse

A nurse who works at a school. With your teachers, the school nurse can help you follow your care plan, check glucose and treat a low. Not every school has one, and then other trained grown-ups help instead. 📘 Read: School and friends 🎮 Play: My Diabetes Team

Sharps bin

A strong box with a lid for used needles and lancets, so nobody gets hurt. Needles and lancets never go in the normal bin. When the box is full, a grown-up closes it and returns it the way your pharmacy or diabetes team explains. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools

Snack

A little food between meals. Some kids with diabetes have a snack before sport or at bedtime when their plan says so. Kids with diabetes may eat a snack in class when they need to. 📘 Read: Sport and diabetes 🎮 Play: Pack Your Kit

Target range

The zone where your diabetes team would like your glucose to be most of the time. Many kids use 70 to 180 mg/dL (3.9 to 10 mmol/L), but your team may choose a different range for you. In Glucoville’s games, it is the green zone. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: CGM Detective

Test strip

A small strip that goes into the glucose meter. You put a drop of blood on its end, and the meter reads the glucose. A new strip is used for every check. 📘 Read: Diabetes tools 🎮 Play: Glucose Check

Time in range

How much of the day your glucose stays in your target range. A sensor works it out for you. Many kids aim to be in range for most of the day, and nobody is in range all the time. 📘 Read: Highs and lows 🎮 Play: Range Runner

Type 1 diabetes

The type of diabetes most children with diabetes have. The immune system attacks the cells that make insulin, so the pancreas stops making it, and kids get insulin from a pen or a pump. It is not caused by eating sweets, it is nobody’s fault, and it can start at any age. 📘 Read: Type 1 diabetes 🎮 Play: Myth or Fact?

Type 2 diabetes

The body still makes insulin, but it doesn’t work as well, like a key in a sticky lock. It is more common in grown-ups, but some kids and teens have it too, and nobody chooses to get it. Moving every day, drinking water, sleeping well and medicine or insulin when the doctor says so all help. 📘 Read: Type 2 diabetes 🎮 Play: Insulin Key

Warning signs (of diabetes)

Signs that a child might have diabetes: being very thirsty, peeing a lot or wetting the bed again, losing weight without trying and feeling very tired. If you notice them, tell a grown-up, who should take the child to a doctor the same day. These signs don’t always mean diabetes: only a doctor can tell. 📘 Read: What is diabetes? 🎮 Play: Sign Spotter

World Diabetes Day

A day on 14 November when people all over the world learn about diabetes and show their support. It is the birthday of Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin with Charles Best. Its symbol is the blue circle. 🎮 Play: World Diabetes Day Quiz

⚕️ These words explain how diabetes works. They are not medical advice: every child follows the plan made with their own diabetes team.